Well, the interview is now complete. I had a wonderful time getting to know Steve during our interview. He (and I) appreciated the fact that bloggers (Shahid, John, Courtney, Easton) contributed questions for the interview.
Following is a transcript of the interview (with some commentary by me thrown in.) I'm happy to say that Steve has graciously allowed me to reprint this interview in a report my consulting firm, Envision Solutions, LLC, is developing on healthcare blogging. The report is titled: The Emerging Healthcare Blogosphere: What Is It & Why Does It Matter? It should be complete later this month.
Now, on to the interview . . .
1. Blogs have clearly had a huge impact on numerous industries, including technology (Microsoft, Macromedia) and food (McDonald's). Do you think blogging has affected the healthcare industry in the same way? If not, why?
I don’t think that blogging has impacted the healthcare industry significantly yet. However, I do think that we will see increased focus on the influence of healthcare blogs over the next months and years.
I will say that there are a lot of people blogging about healthcare – in general. Health is a topic that flows through many posts.
However, I haven’t seen a huge amount of people blogging about healthcare exclusively – with the exception of individuals writing about their experiences with illness. (I launched a blog when I was diagnosed with skin cancer late last year, but I’m sorry to say I haven’t been able to keep up with it as much as I’d like.)
I think that more people will be blogging about healthcare exclusively as the blogosphere expands. But right now, healthcare blogging is not as popular as some other areas.
2. In your mind, what are the benefits of blogging for:
• Patients
For patients it’s about community, finding others out there just like you. Knowledge sharing and advocacy [are other areas]. If people feel they want to highlight a cause of some kind, they can form a community. However, I haven’t seen a lot of examples of this happening.
• Healthcare Providers
My brother is a physician and I’ve been trying to get him to blog! He hasn’t bitten yet though.☺
I think the main benefit for physicians is business. Google is a great resource for patients trying to find out about physicians. If you can get in the top Google listings, that’s great for your business.
So in all, marketing is huge. Knowledge sharing between physicians is another area where blogs could benefit doctors.
• Pharmaceutical Industry
There are a lot of risks inherent in blogging for the pharmaceutical industry, given the fact that they are so heavily regulated.
However, there are also a lot of benefits. For example, pharmaceutical companies could foster genuine dialogue about issues. Pharmaceutical companies [do a lot to] help to alleviate pain (both physical and emotional). I think they could lead a dialogue or play host to a dialogue about [healthcare-related] topics.
Pharmaceutical companies could also become aggregators of healthcare information. They could host a blog that gathered information from blogs, news sources and other places that people could reference.
• Government
I’m going to answer that with one word: Trust. Building trust with constituents is a big deal. For example, I think that blogs could help regulatory agencies like the FDA build a dialogue with people interested in issues the agency is dealing with.
3. Why do you think the US pharmaceutical industry has been so slow to embrace blogging?
I think that regulation has a lot to do with it. The companies are nervous that if they talk about side effects, they will have problems. It’s a scary thing for them. I think we’ll need to see a few companies blogging successfully before others will get into the act.
4. Now I have a question from Shahid Shah, The Healthcare IT Guy. He wants to know: Can you think of other heavily regulated industries like pharma that are not as far behind on blogging?
I don’t know of any other companies in heavily regulated industries that are blogging. What’s ironic though is that politicians are blogging and they regulate all of these industries!
5. My next question is from John Cass of Backbone Media. He asks: How would you help a pharma company build relevant content on a blog?
I think it depends on the situation, but – conceptually speaking – there are a few approaches one could take. One would be to aggregate information about healthcare on a blog. That’s one approach. I have two questions though: Can people provide feedback? How do companies deal with comments?
Companies could also host blogs written by patients. For example, they could recruit five patients that have been helped by one of their therapies and they could blog. However, I’d have to talk to some lawyers about the legal aspects of this. (From Fard: Yes, HIPPA patient privacy laws could be a bear.)
[Off the subject of blogging], podcasting could be another way to go. There could be sponsored podcasts by patients that could be underwritten by a pharmaceutical company.
6. Suw Charman wrote a great case study last year on a “Dark Blog” a European pharmaceutical company launched to improve internal communications, collaboration and productivity. Given the results of this case study, do you think blogs could help improve patient care, policymaking and other healthcare-related activities in the same way?
[I think that this case study demonstrates that] blogs can be a tremendous knowledge-sharing tool. However, you need to be prepared to deal with the possibility that information could go “over the wall.” There needs to be a safety net in place to prevent [confidential information] from being released.
7. Are there any healthcare bloggers you are aware of that have influenced the activities of pharmaceutical companies or other players in the healthcare field?
Not that I am aware of, but I haven’t studied it that closely.
8. My next question is from Courtney, a student at Auburn University. She writes: WOMMA’s web site gives the statistic that 85% of people polled believe word of mouth communication is credible compared to 70% who feel advertising and PR are. How would the added credibility of word of mouth marketing affect the healthcare industry and how it does business?
Those data points are consistent with the Edelman Trust Barometer, which recognized that the vast majority of people trust people like themselves.
What healthcare companies have to do is to try to facilitate trust. Gather up a group of people and empower them to help build conversations around issues. My major piece of advice is this: be a facilitator not a communicator.
Blogging is about matchmaking and social networking. [What could be successful] is having something that’s a throwback to Uncle Merle – “This program was brought to you by Texaco.” I’m not saying that you should abandon marketing, but you don’t push it so much.
9. Easton Ellsworth, who writes the blog Business Blogwire, has the next question. He asks: In your mind, who are writing the top-notch blogs in healthcare?
Gosh, getting all these questions [from bloggers] almost makes me feel like Larry King! I feel like saying: Hello Easton! [Fard: Say it!] Okay, Hello Easton! I have to be honest. I don’t know. I haven’t had a lot of experience with healthcare blogs. This is something that I plan to learn a lot more about now that I’m at Edelman.
[Steve asked me to list some of my favorite healthcare-related blogs. I listed four off the top of my head: In the Pipeline (Derek Lowe), The Health Care Blog (Matthew Holt), Medpundit and Pharma Marketing Blog (John Mack).]
10. Why do you think healthcare marketers should care about blogging?
I think that healthcare marketers should care about all social media technologies: social tagging, podcasting, video blogging and [regular] blogging. Consumers are going to these media sources for advice and counsel. Healthcare marketers have to contend with this and figure out how to deal with it.
11. Are healthcare marketers aware of social networking technologies or are they behind the curve?
I think that healthcare marketers are aware of these technologies, but they are trying to figure out how to act given all of the regulations faced by healthcare companies.
Following is a transcript of the interview (with some commentary by me thrown in.) I'm happy to say that Steve has graciously allowed me to reprint this interview in a report my consulting firm, Envision Solutions, LLC, is developing on healthcare blogging. The report is titled: The Emerging Healthcare Blogosphere: What Is It & Why Does It Matter? It should be complete later this month.
Now, on to the interview . . .
Social Media Tour: Healthcare Blogging Edition
1. Blogs have clearly had a huge impact on numerous industries, including technology (Microsoft, Macromedia) and food (McDonald's). Do you think blogging has affected the healthcare industry in the same way? If not, why?
I don’t think that blogging has impacted the healthcare industry significantly yet. However, I do think that we will see increased focus on the influence of healthcare blogs over the next months and years.
I will say that there are a lot of people blogging about healthcare – in general. Health is a topic that flows through many posts.
However, I haven’t seen a huge amount of people blogging about healthcare exclusively – with the exception of individuals writing about their experiences with illness. (I launched a blog when I was diagnosed with skin cancer late last year, but I’m sorry to say I haven’t been able to keep up with it as much as I’d like.)
I think that more people will be blogging about healthcare exclusively as the blogosphere expands. But right now, healthcare blogging is not as popular as some other areas.
2. In your mind, what are the benefits of blogging for:
• Patients
For patients it’s about community, finding others out there just like you. Knowledge sharing and advocacy [are other areas]. If people feel they want to highlight a cause of some kind, they can form a community. However, I haven’t seen a lot of examples of this happening.
• Healthcare Providers
My brother is a physician and I’ve been trying to get him to blog! He hasn’t bitten yet though.☺
I think the main benefit for physicians is business. Google is a great resource for patients trying to find out about physicians. If you can get in the top Google listings, that’s great for your business.
So in all, marketing is huge. Knowledge sharing between physicians is another area where blogs could benefit doctors.
• Pharmaceutical Industry
There are a lot of risks inherent in blogging for the pharmaceutical industry, given the fact that they are so heavily regulated.
However, there are also a lot of benefits. For example, pharmaceutical companies could foster genuine dialogue about issues. Pharmaceutical companies [do a lot to] help to alleviate pain (both physical and emotional). I think they could lead a dialogue or play host to a dialogue about [healthcare-related] topics.
Pharmaceutical companies could also become aggregators of healthcare information. They could host a blog that gathered information from blogs, news sources and other places that people could reference.
• Government
I’m going to answer that with one word: Trust. Building trust with constituents is a big deal. For example, I think that blogs could help regulatory agencies like the FDA build a dialogue with people interested in issues the agency is dealing with.
3. Why do you think the US pharmaceutical industry has been so slow to embrace blogging?
I think that regulation has a lot to do with it. The companies are nervous that if they talk about side effects, they will have problems. It’s a scary thing for them. I think we’ll need to see a few companies blogging successfully before others will get into the act.
4. Now I have a question from Shahid Shah, The Healthcare IT Guy. He wants to know: Can you think of other heavily regulated industries like pharma that are not as far behind on blogging?
I don’t know of any other companies in heavily regulated industries that are blogging. What’s ironic though is that politicians are blogging and they regulate all of these industries!
5. My next question is from John Cass of Backbone Media. He asks: How would you help a pharma company build relevant content on a blog?
I think it depends on the situation, but – conceptually speaking – there are a few approaches one could take. One would be to aggregate information about healthcare on a blog. That’s one approach. I have two questions though: Can people provide feedback? How do companies deal with comments?
Companies could also host blogs written by patients. For example, they could recruit five patients that have been helped by one of their therapies and they could blog. However, I’d have to talk to some lawyers about the legal aspects of this. (From Fard: Yes, HIPPA patient privacy laws could be a bear.)
[Off the subject of blogging], podcasting could be another way to go. There could be sponsored podcasts by patients that could be underwritten by a pharmaceutical company.
6. Suw Charman wrote a great case study last year on a “Dark Blog” a European pharmaceutical company launched to improve internal communications, collaboration and productivity. Given the results of this case study, do you think blogs could help improve patient care, policymaking and other healthcare-related activities in the same way?
[I think that this case study demonstrates that] blogs can be a tremendous knowledge-sharing tool. However, you need to be prepared to deal with the possibility that information could go “over the wall.” There needs to be a safety net in place to prevent [confidential information] from being released.
7. Are there any healthcare bloggers you are aware of that have influenced the activities of pharmaceutical companies or other players in the healthcare field?
Not that I am aware of, but I haven’t studied it that closely.
8. My next question is from Courtney, a student at Auburn University. She writes: WOMMA’s web site gives the statistic that 85% of people polled believe word of mouth communication is credible compared to 70% who feel advertising and PR are. How would the added credibility of word of mouth marketing affect the healthcare industry and how it does business?
Those data points are consistent with the Edelman Trust Barometer, which recognized that the vast majority of people trust people like themselves.
What healthcare companies have to do is to try to facilitate trust. Gather up a group of people and empower them to help build conversations around issues. My major piece of advice is this: be a facilitator not a communicator.
Blogging is about matchmaking and social networking. [What could be successful] is having something that’s a throwback to Uncle Merle – “This program was brought to you by Texaco.” I’m not saying that you should abandon marketing, but you don’t push it so much.
9. Easton Ellsworth, who writes the blog Business Blogwire, has the next question. He asks: In your mind, who are writing the top-notch blogs in healthcare?
Gosh, getting all these questions [from bloggers] almost makes me feel like Larry King! I feel like saying: Hello Easton! [Fard: Say it!] Okay, Hello Easton! I have to be honest. I don’t know. I haven’t had a lot of experience with healthcare blogs. This is something that I plan to learn a lot more about now that I’m at Edelman.
[Steve asked me to list some of my favorite healthcare-related blogs. I listed four off the top of my head: In the Pipeline (Derek Lowe), The Health Care Blog (Matthew Holt), Medpundit and Pharma Marketing Blog (John Mack).]
10. Why do you think healthcare marketers should care about blogging?
I think that healthcare marketers should care about all social media technologies: social tagging, podcasting, video blogging and [regular] blogging. Consumers are going to these media sources for advice and counsel. Healthcare marketers have to contend with this and figure out how to deal with it.
11. Are healthcare marketers aware of social networking technologies or are they behind the curve?
I think that healthcare marketers are aware of these technologies, but they are trying to figure out how to act given all of the regulations faced by healthcare companies.
Thanks, Fard and Steve, for the insights. It will be interesting to come back to posts like this in a year or two and see whose voices have become the most popular in terms of healthcare blogging (or Web publishing). Good job on the interview, Fard!
Posted by: Easton Ellsworth | March 2, 2006 8:53 PM | Permalink to Comment